Integrity Moments - August 17, 2016

Friar Joe Mazzone, a Catholic pastor in Stoughton, Massachusetts, recently wrote, “We should have a good “work ethic,” yes, but we should also have a good “leisure ethic,” too, to find time to “get away and rest awhile.”

He referenced Josef Pieper, a German Catholic philosopher, who once wrote a famous and influential essay titled “Leisure: The Basis of Culture.” One of Pieper’s points was that all the great cultures of the world became great because people took the time to step back and contemplate the world around them, to reflect and ponder, and to rest.

Jesus said in Mark 6:31, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile.”

As summer ends, let’s not overlook the importance of leisure. Without rest our souls and mind shrivel.